Science, Religion and A.D. White: Seeking Peace in the 'Warfare' Between Science and Theology

Just over a century ago, Cornell's first president and co-founder Andrew Dickson White published a two-volume work entitled, "A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom," which was influential in framing conversations about science and religion throughout the twentieth century. Although the last thirty years have seen a significant amount of research challenging the notion that science and religion are incompatible, the metaphor of warfare persists, especially in the popular imagination.

Mark Noll, the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, revisits A.D. White's thesis and the persistence of the warfare metaphor, and suggests some paths forward in the relationship between science and religion. Noll is the author of many books, including "America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln," "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind," and most recently, "God and Race in American Politics."

The Frederick C. Wood Lecture, established by Emma T. Wood and former Cornell trustee Frederick C. Wood in 1984, is intended to bring scholars of innovative religious thought to campus.